POST CONSTITUTION

THE AMERICAN LEGION

LAKE ZURICH POST 964

Department Illinois

Revision of June 2024

PREAMBLE

For God and Country we associate ourselves together for the following purposes: To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; To maintain law and order; To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism; To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in all Wars; To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation; To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; To make right the master of might; To promote peace and goodwill on earth; To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy;To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.

ARTICLE I – NAME

Section 1 – The name of this organization shall be LAKE ZURICH POST No. 964, The American Legion and Department of Illinois..

ARTICLE II – OBJECTS

Section 1 – The objects and purposes of the Post shall be to promote the principles and policies as set forth in the foregoing Preamble and the national and departmental Constitution of the American Legion.

ARTICLE III – NATURE

Section 1 – This Post is a civilian organization and membership therein does not affect or increase liability for military or police service.

Section 2 – This organization shall be absolutely non-political and shall not be used for the dissemination of partisan principles or for the promotion of the candidacy of any person seeking political office or preferment. No candidate for nomination or election to, nor any incumbent of any remunerative elective public office, shall hold any elective office or any appointive remunerative office in this Post of the American Legion, provided that members of Post standing shall not be affected.

Section 3 – Military rank is not recognized in the American Legion. No member shall be addressed by his military title in any meeting of this Post.

ARTICLE IV – MEMBERSHIP

Section 1 - Eligibility to membership in this Post shall be as prescribed in the National Constitution of the American Legion.

Section 2 – All applications shall be submitted to the Post Executive Committee at regular meetings. The Executive Committee shall present such applications to the membership at the following regular Post meeting with a recommendation to accept or reject application for membership in the Post. A rejected application shall not again be considered until after the expiration of six (6) months from the date of rejection.

Section 3 – Any member of this Post may be expelled for cause by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Executive Committee after charges are preferred under oath in writing and a fair trial had upon the same rules prescribed by the Constitution and By-Laws of the Department of Illinois of the American Legion.

Section 4 – A member who has been expelled or suspended from this Post for any cause may be reinstalled to membership by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the general membership present in a Post meeting, provided however, that his or her dues or assessments are brought current.

Section 5 – No person who has been expelled from any other Post of the American Legion shall be permitted to membership in the Post, except by appeal to the Department of Illinois Executive Committee. The Department of Illinois Executive Committee shall determine the eligibility of such persons for membership in any Post.

ARTICLE V – OFFICERS

Section 1 – The administrative affairs of this Post of The American Legion shall be under the following Officers: Commander; 1st Vice Commander (Sr. Vice); 2nd Vice Commander (Jr. Vice); Finance Officer; Post Historian, Chaplain, Sgt. At Arms, Immediate Past Commander; Judge Advocate; Service Officer; Adjutant and five (5) Trustees. All officers are elected with the exception of the Service Officer and Adjutant, which are to be appointed by the Commander, subject to approval by the majority of the Executive Committee.

Section 2 – All officers shall be elected annually and they shall hold office until their successors are duly installed or as otherwise provided for. Five (5) Trustees shall be elected as prescribed in Section 4 of this Article.

Section 3 – All officers, except the five (5) Trustees, shall be elected to one-year terms. There shall be no restriction on the number of consecutive terms of service for any officer.

Section 4 – The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers named in Section 1 and the five (5) Trustees. The Trustees shall be elected to serve terms of two (2) years. Trustees terms of office will be staggered such that not more than three (3) Trustees will be elected to two-year terms at any one time. Should there be more than three (3) Trustee vacancies to fill, those vacancies will be filled by election to complete the unexpired portion of remaining terms of office. Vacancies in Trustee positions will not be filled by appointment.

Section 5 - Any Officer or Trustee may be removed from office by the Executive Committee on the basis of cause or inefficiency. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Executive Committee is necessary to effect such removal.

Section 6 – Every member in good standing from this Post shall be eligible to hold Office in this Post.

Section 7 – The duties of the Officers and Trustees shall be described in the By-Laws.

ARTICLE VI – FINANCES

Section 1- The revenue of this Post shall be derived from membership initiation fees, from annual membership dues and from such other sources as may be approved by the Post Executive Committee.

Section 2 - The amount of such membership or initiation fees and the amount of such annual Post dues shall be fixed and determined by this Post in regular meeting.

Section 3 - The Post shall pay to Departmental Headquarters the National and Departmental Annual Membership dues for every member in the Post.

Section 4 - All money collected by any Committee shall be turned over to the Post Finance Officer by the next meeting after such collection is made. All bar and hall rental money shall be turned over to the Post Finance Officer every seven (7) days and within a maximum of ten (10) days. In the event of the absence of the Finance Officer, the Commander shall take charge of the affairs of the Finance Officer and collect all money as spelled out under this Article.

Section 5 - The Post Finance Officer shall make, in detail, a report of all collections and disbursements to both the Post and the Executive Committee at both monthly meetings.

Section 6 - There shall be an audit of all Finance Records in the month of July each year by an authorized accounting firm.

ARTICLE VII – CHARTER MEMBERS

Section 1 - Members who joined this Post prior to 11 November 1946 shall be known as Charter Members.

ARTICLE VIII – AUXILIARY

Section 1 - This Post recognizes an Auxiliary Organization to be known as the Auxiliary Unit of Lake Zurich Post No. 964, The American Legion.

Section 2 - Membership in the Auxiliary shall be as prescribed by the National Constitution of the American Legion Auxiliary.

ARTICLE IX – AMENDMENTS

Section 1 – This Constitution is adopted subject to the provisions of the National Constitution of the American Legion and of the Department of Illinois. Any Amendment to said National Constitution or Department Constitution which is in further conflict with any provisions hereof, is regarded as automatically repealed or modified by provisions of this Constitution to the extent of such conflict.

Section 2 - This Constitution may be amended at any regular Post meeting by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members of said Post attending such regular meeting, providing that the proposed amendment(s) shall have been submitted in writing and read at three (3) preceding regular meetings of said Post, and providing further that the written notice shall have been given to all members at least fifteen (15) days in advance of the date when such amendment(s) is to be voted upon, notifying said members that at such meeting a proposal to amend the Constitution is to be voted upon.

This Constitution of Lake Zurich Illinois Post 964 is hereby enacted on 9 Jun 2017 as

attested to by the following Post members:

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